“Did you just buy this?” I asked, bringing my attention back to the bike.

“No. I bought it the summer after I graduated high school.” He turned and looked at it. “I worked my ass off working for my dad as much as I possibly could to pay for it. They bought my old SUV, but I had to work for the bike.”

“What does your dad do?” Why had he never told me about his bike, and why do I not know what his dad does? We talk about everything.

“He’s an accountant.” He leaned his head back to look at the starry sky. “And I’m pretty sure I mentioned I have a bike before.”

“I guess it just never clicked that it was like a real motorcycle.”

He glanced over at me, his brows pulled in. “You thought I was talking about a bicycle? You thought I rode around town picking up girls on a bicycle?”

Chasing the Stars (#1) – Released Oct 2014

Mackenzie…

With each dawn rose a new day, but nothing changed. Not really. My life was the same revolving circle. We barely lived. We moved. We barely got by in a new place. Until we moved again.
New school. New trailer park. Different day. Another beating.
The first day of my senior year in high school, I was ready to give up. Ready to run far, far away and hope I would never be found. But I’m a smart girl. I knew it would never work. I had a plan. One I was so close to fulfilling. I could start over. Be a new person.
Live without the “poor girl” and “trailer trash” labels attached to my back.
I became guarded, living by my own rules.
Rule number one: don’t worry about learning their names, I wouldn’t be around long enough for them to learn mine.
But then, I met him. I tried to resist, tried to push away, make myself seem uninterested, but Hayes wouldn’t let me. He saw something in me and chased me until I finally gave in. We became friends — best friends. And then, we became more. My guard fell and I opened my heart, only for him to crush it in his bare hands.

Hayes…

Sex. Booze. Football. In that order.
I’d never been the kind of guy who “did” relationships. They seemed pointless. Girls threw themselves at me, practically purred for me to seduce them.
Why would I give that up?
Why would I want more?
But there was something about Mackenzie. Something different from all those other girls. She was someone I was willing to risk everything for. I didn’t care where she came from, or about her past. It didn’t matter that she lived on “the wrong side of town” and I was the rich kid “sitting on a gold mine”.
Even more, those other girls didn’t matter anymore. Because they weren’t my Mac.

Miranda…
I was always the life of the party, the happy one.
Until Preston killed my soul.
When he came into my life, he destroyed me. I was a shell of my former self, pretending to be fine while wishing I wouldn’t wake up the next day. I never dreamed my best friend would come back into my life…and bring Brad Nicholson with her.
I never dreamed the homicide detective with the cocky attitude could show me my worth again. He could show me that my life could be amazing every day.
Until the day he found out about my past with Preston. Then, I was sure he’d see the real Miranda and ditch me for good.

Brad…
From a young age, I made a decision.
I knew what I wanted to do with my life and from that point on, my work molded me. Everything became routine. Casual. Until Mackenzie walked into my life, bringing her best friend, Miranda, with her.
From the first moment I saw Miranda, I knew she could be someone special. I didn’t have time for relationships, but she was different. She was a piece of the puzzle that could be missing. But she was broken, I could see that. And all I wanted to do was turn her into the girl I knew she really was beneath her perfectly placed mask.

After being dealt a hard life, things were finally looking up. I had a wonderful boyfriend and perfect daughter.

Life was great.

But at some point, your past always comes back to haunt you, crashing into you when you least expect it. And all you can do is weather the storm, even if it’s hell bent on destroying everything.

Hayes…

Perfect girlfriend, check.

Perfect daughter, check.

All that was missing was Mackenzie sharing my last name. But life is never that easy. And some choices you make can destroy everything. I just pray I didn’t fuck up beyond repair. Because I can’t live my life without her and I’d do anything to make it right again.

J.D. Rivera lives in Oklahoma with her husband and two boys. Her life consists of school projects, homework, cartoon shows, and little league sports. She loves Diet Mountain Dew, the OKC Thunder, costume jewelry, the beach, and reading.

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